Read Online Indelible by Karin Slaughter - Free Book Online

that.”
    â€œI’m serious, baby. Listen to me. You’re not that kind of woman.” She tucked back Sara’s hair. “You’re not the kind of girl who has flings. You’ve never been that kind of girl.”
    â€œYou don’t know that.”
    â€œYou’ve only had two boyfriends your whole life.How many girlfriends has Jeffrey had? How many women has he slept with?”
    â€œI would guess quite a few.”
    â€œAnd you’re just another one on his list. That’s why your father is mad about—”
    â€œDon’t y’all think it would be nice to actually bother to meet him before you jump to all these conclusions?” Sara asked, too late remembering that Jeffrey was on his way here now. She chanced a look at her alarm clock. In about ten minutes, her mother would be able to see for herself that she was exactly right. If Jill-June Mallard could pick up on it, Cathy Linton would know it the moment Jeffrey entered the room.
    Cathy persisted. “You’re just not a ‘fling’ kind of girl, honey.”
    â€œMaybe I am now. Maybe I became that sort of person in Atlanta.”
    â€œWell.” Cathy picked up a pair of underwear to fold, her brows furrowed. “These are too delicate for the machine,” she chastised. “If you wash them by hand and dry them on the line, they won’t get torn like this.”
    Sara gave her a tight smile. “They’re not torn.”
    Cathy raised an eyebrow, showing a spark of appreciation. Still, she asked, “How many men have you been with?”
    Sara looked at her watch, whispering, “Please.”
    Cathy ignored her. “I know about Steve Mann. Good Lord, the whole town knew after Mac Anders caught you two behind the Chilidog.”
    Sara stared at the floor, willing herself not to spontaneously combust from embarrassment.
    Cathy continued. “Mason James.”
    â€œMama.”
    â€œThat’s two men.”
    â€œYou’re forgetting the last one,” Sara reminded her, feeling a tinge of regret as she saw her mother’s expression darken.
    Cathy folded Sara’s pajama bottoms. She asked very softly, “Does Jeffrey know you were raped?”
    Sara moderated her tone, trying to be gentle. “It hasn’t exactly come up in our conversations.”
    â€œWhat did you tell him when he asked why you left Atlanta?”
    â€œNothing,” she said, leaving out the fact that Jeffrey had not pressed for details.
    Cathy smoothed the pajamas. She turned around for something else to put to order, but she had already folded or refolded everything on the bed. “You should never be ashamed about what happened to you, Sara.”
    Sara shrugged noncommittally as she stood to get her suitcase. She wasn’t ashamed, exactly, just sick to death of people treating her differently because of it—especially her mother. Sara could take the concerned looks and the awkward pauses from the handful of people who knew why she had really moved back to Grant County, but her strained relationship with her mother was almost too much to bear.
    Sara opened the case and started to pack. “I’ll tell him when it’s time. If it’s ever time.” She shrugged again. “Maybe it’ll never be time.”
    â€œYou can’t expect to have a solid relationship if it’s founded on secrets.”
    â€œIt’s not a secret,” she countered. “It’s just private. It’s something that happened to me, and I’m tired of . . .” She did not finish the sentence, because talking about the rape with her mother was not a conversation she was ready to have. “Can you hand me that cotton top?”
    Cathy gave the shirt a look of disapproval before handing it over. “I’ve seen too many women fight to get to where you are and give it all up in a minute for some man that ends up leaving them in a couple of years